


How To Train Your Shinobi

by sueKay04



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-03-20 12:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13718013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sueKay04/pseuds/sueKay04
Summary: This story follows Iruka's journey over the course of the manga and beyond as he deals with Naruto, training his students and reforming the academy, while also learning that it's easier to herd cats than keep up with a certain Jōnin Sensei...Eventual KakaIru!





	1. Enter: Umino Iruka!!

“You want to make the final exam a bunshin again?” Iruka asked the Vice Principal, “If I may speak freely Daikoku Sensei, the students expect this to be the graduation test. A lot of them have been practicing doing a bunshin for this exam to the detriment of everything else.”

“It’s the best basis we have for measuring their general competency. Henge is too easy, Kage Bunshin is too advanced.”

“I just think there must be some other way around it, perhaps a written exam or a survival exercise?”

“Iruka…” Funeno Daikoku sighed, “you invest too much time thinking about these things. Our job at the academy is to pick out the ones with potential. The Jōnin then sort the wheat from the chaff with their own tests and those they pass get to be genin. It’s our job to get these kids noticed by the Jōnin and that’s it. Getting the kids to do a bunshin is a tried and tested format. I don’t think myself or the Principal see that changing any time soon.”

 

* * *

 

Iruka left the staff room feeling disappointed and a little irate. When he’d first started teaching he’d been told Daikoku was an excellent teacher and had a wealth of wisdom from which Iruka could draw on. But the longer Iruka was at the Academy the less faith he had in the senior teacher’s abilities. Daikoku saw no point in investing in all the children equally – he wanted the academy to turn out a steady stream of malleable child soldiers. Daikoku had no interest in those that wouldn’t flourish in the shinobi lifestyle and had no interest in the children’s fates once they were handed over to the Jōnin.

“You’re thinking about _that_ kid again,” Mizuki said, startling Iruka.

“Were you listening in?”

“I was picking up a new lesson plan, so I heard you voicing your disapproval about the graduation exam.”

Iruka nodded, “I was hoping for a change this year. Something more comprehensive at least. Most of the children in my homeroom have been practicing their bunshins for weeks in preparation. It’s not a good test of their actual skills – in combat they’re not going to find an opponent who has the weakest nature versus their own, or a skillset they can actively combat against. Putting another jutsu in the bunshin’s place would present a better challenge for the students.”

“I agree,” Mizuki said, “Maybe one day we’ll get to change it and help out all the students…especially blond-haired ones with loud voices eh?”

Iruka couldn’t help it and felt a little bit of colour creep onto his face, “That is true.”

“Hmm, I mean I could interpret your desire to change the exam to be a desire to change it to something Naruto will definitely manage to do,” Mizuki smiled wryly.

Iruka wouldn’t give him anything though. Everyone knew Iruka had grown fond of the village’s Jinchūruki, but he wouldn’t let his feelings cloud his judgement.

“Like all my students, my wish is for Naruto to pass any exam we throw at him fair and square. I’m not about to let any of them pass if they’re not up to scratch. It’s no good putting kids on teams if they’re a liability to both themselves and others. Naruto is no different.”

“Let’s keep our fingers crossed he does quite well then, hmm? Another way to look at it though is that he won’t get the ‘Friend-Killer’ as his Jōnin Sensei, and that’s probably a good thing!”

Having given Iruka that cryptic comment, Mizuki walked off, amused smile affixed to his face.

Who the hell was the ‘Friend-Killer’?

* * *

It had been a testy day at the Ninja Academy, Iruka mused as he mulled over some homework back at his small, spartan apartment. As it got closer and closer to graduation exam time, the students were becoming rowdier, more prone to bickering among themselves and certain students were even more boastful than normal.

This was the year the class had all turned twelve, and these days twelve was considered the optimum age for graduation. It was also the first time Iruka had fledged a class.

Graduation ages at the exams could vary considerably. While most now graduated at twelve, there were individuals who passed at thirteen or fourteen as well as a number at ten and eleven, like Iruka himself had. Any students older than fourteen were generally written off, as were those who had failed repeatedly. Occasionally the Academy would recommend a child take the exam at a very early age, and Iruka had even heard that on one occasion a five-year-old had made Genin after such a recommendation.

Parents could put their child forward to do the graduation exam from the age of nine, but most made the best of their children’s younger years, making sure they were as prepped as they could be for their careers, so early graduations were rare. Children with no legal guardians could make the choice for themselves, and most like Uchiha Sasuke waited to hone their skills and graduate with the rest of their class, while others like Uzumaki Naruto tried to make their break for freedom at the first opportunity. This had led to Naruto failing the exam two times and had made him the laughing stock of his class. If Naruto failed a third time Iruka doubted the academy or the Hokage would give him another chance.

Iruka was willing Naruto to do his very best, but he was also expecting the boy to fail. Unlike the rest of his class there was no home discipline. Even lazy, lacklustre students like Nara Shikamaru had more discipline thanks to their upbringing, and the strictness of the Uchiha Clan had stayed with Sasuke despite the loss of his clan years ago. But Naruto had no discipline outside of Iruka’s class – as a ward of Konoha he was left to his own devices away from the classroom, and it showed.

Iruka sighed, wishing the best for his student before he moved on to review some graduation materials – a list of potential Jōnin Senseis for the students who passed.

There were a couple of familiar names, such as the Hokage’s son, Sarutobi Asuma, who’d already fledged a trio of genin a few years ago. Yūhi Kurenai was another name he recognised as she’d only made Jōnin last month. Hatake Kakashi’s name also jumped out but for different reasons – Kakashi was generally known to be a cold-blooded, solitary ex-Anbu. While he’d always been polite and helpful to Iruka, he didn’t seem to be the type who enjoyed leading others. What made him want to teach Genin? Iruka didn’t know, but he knew it wasn’t the first time the man’s name had been on the Jōnin Sensei list.

As he looked at the Jōnin Sensei list Mizuki’s ‘Friend-Killer’ comment came back into his mind. Just who had Mizuki been referring to?

* * *

A few days later Iruka decided to give the students some details about their graduation exam schedule. He quickly took attendance and realised that Naruto was nowhere to be found – something that wasn’t entirely unusual but was very serious given the proximity of the exam.

Iruka decided not to interrupt his lesson – he wouldn’t inconvenience the rest of his students at such an important time if he could help it.

Iruka told the students they’d be formally tested on a single jutsu on the actual exam day, but he warned them that they’d need to prove their general competency to him today with spot tests and quizzes. Iruka decided Henge was a good place to start and got the entire class to mimic him. The class did well, though Tobio managed to give him pigtails.

“Right class, everyone did good with that last test. Next, without looking at any of your textbooks or notes, I want you to write a paragraph about each of the village’s past Hokage. Include anything you know about their clan backgrounds, fighting styles and- “

“Iruka Sensei!" a Chūnin shouted as he barged into the classroom, "The Hokage needs to see you at once!” 

 

* * *

 

“Not again,” Iruka groaned as he stood in the Hokage’s study.

“He’s getting more and more unruly Iruka,” Hiruzen said, drawing him a look.

“Yes, sadly,” he conceded.

“Michito wants his stock recovered. Naruto must be stealing paint from him at least once every other week.”

“I’ll go and track Naruto down Hokage-sama, and see to it Michito-san is compensated.”

Feeling suitably chastised by Sarutobi, Iruka left the elderly Hokage’s study and headed to the roof to see if he could spot his missing student. He’d only just made it to the top when he began to hear the shouts of several shinobi and civilians.

“There the runt! He’s done it again!”

Iruka winced as he cast his gaze upwards and saw Hokage Rock covered in graffiti, while Naruto hung on a rope off of the Yondaime’s head.

“Naruto!” he shouted, but the twelve-year-old didn’t respond.

More and more people joined him on the roof of the Hokage’s office, with many shouting insults at the boy. Others yelled at him to grow up. For once Iruka couldn’t blame them, and he felt anger rising inside of him.

Defacing Hokage Rock was a step too far.

Iruka winced again when the Sandaime appeared at his side, also shouting in anger at the boy.

Iruka shouted louder this time, bellowing at Naruto to get back to class, but rather than surrender quietly, Naruto spent the next twenty minutes giving Konoha’s shinobi the run-around until Iruka caught him, hog-tied him and took him back to class.

Iruka gave Naruto a dressing down in front of his classmates and demanded they all redo the Henge they’d done earlier. Iruka knew the rest of the class could do it and hoped it would spur Naruto on to at least try. The class were doing fine – albeit while drawing daggers at Naruto – but when it was the Uzumaki’s turn to impress, he decided to turn into a curvy, naked female version of himself. Iruka’s resulting nosebleed was mortifying and earned him several glares from his trainee kunoichi.

At the end of the school day he dismissed the class as usual, telling them to make sure they got plenty of sleep for tomorrow, but he held Naruto back.

“Not so fast.”

“But Sensei, you said I needed to sleep!”

“You can sleep when Hokage Rock is so clean it sparkles!”

* * *

 

Three hours later Iruka was still sat atop the rock as Naruto worked on scrubbing Senju Hashirama’s face. Naruto was nearly finished cleaning up his mess, but he was getting slower and slower.

As Naruto stopped and sighed, Iruka reminded him he wouldn’t get to go home until he’d finished. Naruto shot back that it didn’t matter – there was no-one at home waiting for him anyway.

Iruka’s anger at the boy receded a little, and before he knew it he found himself incentivising Naruto to finish, and sure enough the promise of a big bowl of Teuchi-san’s best ramen saw Naruto finish up in no time.

* * *

His talk with Naruto had proved enlightening – Naruto did respect the Hokage and had remembered some of his lessons about them, but at the same time he seemed to hold a resentment towards them for the level of respect they commanded while Naruto was treated like dirt by just about everyone in the village.

He felt for the boy, after all Naruto had no idea he was the Kyūbi’s Jinchūriki, so he had no idea why so many people resented him. For Naruto the treatment he endured daily for no reason must be incredibly frustrating, so his goal of becoming Hokage himself so people would be nice to him made a lot of sense.

Naruto was also genuinely eager to become a shinobi, unlike a lot of his classmates, so it pained him to think that Naruto might still fail tomorrow.

* * *

The next day Iruka had walked into class and advised his students their exam would indeed be to create at least three bunshin. Most of the class looked nonplussed about this announcement, while others wore smug grins. But Naruto face was a picture of worry and panic.

One by one Iruka’s class filed in to the examination room in order of provisional ninja registration number. 012606 – Uchiha Sasuke – filed in and perfectly created three bunshins before leaving, his face betraying little hint of emotion.

“As expected,” Mizuki smiled, “he’s your most talented student by far Iruka. It’ll be interesting to see how he’ll develop as a genin.”

“Indeed,” Iruka agreed while marking Sasuke down as passing, “He has enormous potential but there’s still plenty he can improve upon. Okay, next is 607.”

“Ah, Naruto…Like I said, let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

Naruto came in a moment later, looking both determined and nervous. After being told to proceed, Naruto concentrated, but mustered up only a pale, drooling cartoon version of himself that was sprawled on the floor.

Iruka felt angry. Not at Naruto, but at himself. Naruto had failed, but Iruka felt that he’d failed Naruto. His anger spilled over, and rather unfairly he directed it at Naruto.

“You fail!” he bellowed.

“Iruka Sensei,” Mizuki interjected, “His physical coordination and stamina are excellent. And he managed to come up with something. Isn’t that enough for him to pass?”

Iruka saw Naruto’s eyes light up at Mizuki’s comments, something which made Iruka’s job that much more difficult.

“Mizuki Sensei…All the others created three or more clones. Naruto created just one. And it’s practically useless. I can’t give him a passing mark.”

As Iruka snuffed out Naruto’s last hope of becoming a shinobi, he couldn’t meet the boy’s gaze, but he could feel his anger.

A short time later the class gathered outside wearing their shiny new forehead protectors, with most of them being lavished with praise from their parents. Some received gifts, while others were promised treats like their favourite food for dinner. As he heard some of the parents cast aspersions at Naruto, he noticed the boy sat stock-still on the swing in the schoolyard – within earshot of the things that were being said about him. As Iruka decided to talk to the parents he noticed the Hokage appear at his side, advising him they’d need to talk about Naruto. As they left the academy grounds, Iruka noticed Naruto walk off with Mizuki. Hopefully the blue-haired Chūnin would be able to give Naruto a pep talk.

* * *

Iruka’s meeting with the Hokage was terse. Five years ago, Sarutobi had handpicked him to be Naruto’s teacher over his protests, and he had told Iruka it was vital Naruto become a shinobi for both the boy’s sake and for the sake of the village as most of the foreign Jinchūriki Konoha had kept track of in the other villages had become elite Jōnin. If Konoha’s Jinchūriki were to remain an unskilled civilian, it would be a liability Konoha could scarcely afford.

Now, five years later, the boy had failed his exam a third time.

“What is it that’s wrong with him Iruka?”

“He doesn’t seem to be able to engage properly with the curriculum and- “

“I want to hear what you think Iruka, not what you would report as a teacher.”

Iruka sighed, “He doesn’t lack drive or enthusiasm. He really wants to become a shinobi of Konoha, but he lacks direction and discipline. He doesn’t pay attention and although he tries his hardest, he always seems to come up against brick walls. Some would say he’s uniquely untalented at ninjutsu, but I don’t actually think that’s the case…I know I’ve missed something.”

Sarutobi nodded, listening and processing what Iruka had told him, “Iruka, I know more about the boy than you do. Trust me when I say I’ve been surprised at his lack of aptitude. His background would normally guarantee that he’d turn out to be at least competent. Normally at this stage I’d be asking him to leave the academy, but it’s imperative he become a shinobi, or he’ll be an outcast for life. I’m going to send him back to you but possibly with more support. I want you to have a good long think about what’s missing in his development and report back to me once the Genin teams have been finalised. This can’t be the end for the boy.”

* * *

Some twelve hours later Iruka lay awake in bed, still clothed and completely unable to sleep. He knew what Naruto was lacking, and it was something Iruka wasn’t sure he could give the boy, because it was love.

Naruto had never known love, not even a little like Iruka had. Iruka remembered his parents and remembered that they’d died because of the love they felt for both him and the village. Losing them had been almost too much for Iruka to cope with, but he often thought about what their hopes and dreams for him had been and he’d moved forward in life with the goal of honouring them and becoming a son they could be proud of. But Naruto had never known his parents, never had anyone expect anything of him from a place of love. He’d only ever had irritated teachers yell at him and still expect the same from him as his classmates who had parents and siblings to impress. The other children also had discipline of some sort. Iruka remembered how his parents would help him practice ninjutsu, and how they’d helped him master suiton before he’d even turned ten. After their deaths, Iruka’s progress stalled and he graduated near the bottom of his class. They were no longer there to help guide him or to keep him focused when his training got tough. Or course there were talented students who had no parents – Sasuke was the perfect example – but having known a few Uchiha he knew that they possessed both natural aptitude and lived in a highly ordered environment. His one visit to Sasuke’s house proved that Uchiha efficiency had survived beyond the Clan’s downfall. Naruto’s other problem was his goal – becoming Hokage was a praiseworthy ambition, but it was a goal with no clear-cut path.

No two Hokage had taken the same route to the job: Hashirama had been elected; Tobirama had been Hashirama’s natural successor and he was also the most powerful shinobi in the village after his death. Sarutobi Hiruzen had been chosen over the hugely unpopular Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen also had ties to both Senju brothers – something that made him very popular; finally, Namikaze Minato had made his name as a war hero and the top student of Konoha’s most respected Sannin – Jiraiya. Hashirama specialised in Mokuton. Tobirama in Suiton and creating ninjutsu. Hiruzen was nicknamed the Professor for his in-depth knowledge in ninjutsu. And Minato was the fastest Shinobi in history – the Yellow flash – who had gained notoriety as a literal one-man army.

Naruto meanwhile was known as the “Little shit who daubs graffiti everywhere”, and many feared him as though he were the Kyūbi itself. He couldn’t be farther from his goal if he tried.

Iruka’s mind flashed back to the meeting where the Hokage told him he’d been selected to teach Naruto. Iruka protested, unable to stomach the thought of sharing the room with the Kyūbi’s container. He knew Naruto wasn’t responsible for his fate but being near him was going to be difficult for Iruka.

_“Iruka.”_

_“What is it? Hokage-sama?”_

_“I know how you feel. But… Naruto also grew up without knowing the love of his parents… like you.”_

Iruka had accepted that fact, and soon found himself teaching the little boy, becoming fond of him, and utterly exasperated by him.

Teaching Naruto also had other pitfalls – Iruka had started having regular flashbacks to the 10th of October and to his parents’ deaths.

As Iruka lay lost in thought, someone started battering on his door.

“Wake up, Iruka Sensei!”

It was Mizuki.

“What’s the matter?” he asked as he opened the door.

“Come to Hokage-sama’s immediately! I heard that Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals.”

“The Scroll of Seals?!”

As Iruka and Mizuki ran to the Hokage’s residence he tried to keep calm. Surely it couldn’t have been Naruto – there’s no way he would have gotten past the Hokage’s security, and he wouldn’t have known what the Scroll was for anyway!

They arrived to find several angry and panicked Chūnin and Jōnin talking to the Hokage.

“This has gone way beyond pranks!”

“It will be a major disaster if it’s taken out of the village!”

The Sandaime agreed, “Yes, Bring Naruto here at once!”

Soon Iruka was on his own searching places Naruto knew or at least might know. He wasn’t at Ichiraku – a place he’d once found Naruto sitting outside of forlornly early one morning as he waited on it opening. He wasn’t on the Academy roof where he sometimes spied on his classmates while formulating pranks. Iruka wondered if he was on one of the training grounds and decided to head to a park near the grounds where there was a supply hut and a hidden weapons stockpile.

He got there to find Naruto puffing and panting, seemingly exhausted, and in possession of the dangerous scroll.

“Hey you, Naruto!” Iruka said angrily as he walked up to the boy.

Oddly, Naruto didn’t look angry at being caught but instead looked rather triumphant.

“You found me… And I’ve only learned one Jutsu.”

_He’s been practicing Jutsu… until he’s become this exhausted and dirty?_

Iruka was both stunned and concerned, but just what jutsu had he taken from this scroll? The scroll contained Edo Tensei of all things! No-one should ever look inside that scroll!

“Listen, listen! I’m gonna show you this amazing Jutsu! You’re gonna let me graduate if I can do it!”

Iruka felt a dull ache in his heart when Naruto said that. Chances were for committing a crime of this magnitude – which many would consider treasonous – he’d be locked up, and as the village’s Jinchūriki, his crime could even forfeit his life so that a new Jinchūriki could be created.

Naruto continued, oblivious to the seriousness of what he’d done, “Isn’t is true that I can graduate if I can do one of the Jutsu written here?”

Iruka couldn’t fathom who would have told Naruto to do something so stupid and dangerous. The kids in his class wouldn’t even know about the scroll’s existence so it couldn’t have been any of them.

“Who told you that?”

“Mizuki Sensei-dattebayo! He told me about this scroll, and this place…”

“Mizuki did?”

Iruka was horrified, and he realised if Mizuki had told Naruto to come here then he could appear at any moment. As that thought went through his mind he suddenly sensed Mizuki’s chakra and realised they’d been getting spied upon by the Chūnin.

Iruka barely had a moment to react as Mizuki attacked them with a barrage of well-aimed Kunai. Iruka pushed Naruto to safety but ended up with one kunai embedded in his thigh. Iruka winced as it went through the muscle and seemed to scrape along his thigh bone.

“I’m impressed you found this place.”

Iruka ignored the pain to glare at his so-called friend. He’d tricked Naruto into stealing the scroll for him.

“I see now… how it is.”

“Naruto, give me that scroll,” Mizuki commanded.

“Wait, wait… What’s going on here?” Naruto said, the tremble in his voice letting Iruka know how scared he was.

Iruka pulled the kunai out of his leg, praying the wound wouldn’t start to bleed too heavily before ignoring the pain and turning his attention to his student.

“Naruto! Never give him that scroll! It is a dangerous object that contains forbidden ninjutsu. It was sealed. Mizuki used you in order to get it for himself.”

As he spoke Iruka took note of the Fūma Shuriken on his colleague’s back – Mizuki had never had any aptitude whatsoever for fuinjutsu – most shinobi would seal cumbersome Fūma Shuriken away rather than carry them about. Mizuki had needed a fall-guy with at least some sort of aptitude for fuinjutsu. Mizuki knew that fuinjutsu was one of Iruka’s specialties and that Iruka had ensured his class all had a basic understanding of how seal formulas worked. Iruka surmised that Naruto had managed to undo the seal placed on the scroll to open it, without falling victim to any booby traps like Mizuki undoubtedly would have.

He filed away how impressed he was by this and returned to matter at hand as Mizuki spoke.

“Naruto, Iruka is only afraid of you holding that scroll!”

“Huh?”

“What are you saying, Mizuki! Don’t let him fool you, Naruto!”

Mizuki laughed, “I will tell you the truth.”

Realising that Mizuki intended on telling Naruto about the Kyūbi, Iruka began to panic.

“Idiot! Don’t do that!”

Mizuki continued, intent on telling Naruto the truth, “After an incident twelve years ago, a rule was created.”

“A rule?”

“That is, Naruto, a rule everybody but you knows.”

“Except me?! What is it?”

“Stop it, Mizuki!” Iruka begged.

Mizuki continued, a cruel smile on his features.

“The rule forbids anyone from revealing that you are actually the Demon Fox!”

“Huh?”

Iruka’s heart broke for Naruto, learning the truth in such a crude and cruel way.

“You are actually the Kyūbi who killed Iruka’s parents and destroyed our village!”

“Stop it!” Iruka shouted loud enough that it hurt.

Once again Mizuki ignored his pleas, “Everyone has been deceiving you ever since. Didn’t you find it strange? Why everyone hated you so much?”

“No! No! No! No! No!” Naruto started to cry.

“Nobody accepts you. It’s why Iruka hates you so much!”

Iruka moved forward but the pain his leg stopped him, and he was once again reminded of the Hokage’s words to him a few years earlier, about how Naruto had grown up without the love of parents just like Iruka had.

_“Everyone avoids him like the plague after what happened. That’s why he keeps misbehaving. It’s the only way for him to get any attention or acknowledgement. He pretends to be tough, but inside he is really hurting.”_

As Iruka mulled over the Sandaime’s words, he realised Mizuki was readying a Fūma Shuriken, and Naruto would have no way of dodging it.

“Die, Naruto!”

As Mizuki threw the weapon, Iruka shouted at Naruto to get down before jumping between him and the shuriken.

Iruka felt the shuriken cut straight through his flak jacket and into the flesh of his back, perilously close to his spine. Pain shot through him from head to foot and he choked on the taste of his own blood, with some spilling down onto Naruto’s terrified face. The shuriken had missed his spinal column, but it had done some other serious damaged. As Iruka worked on infusing chakra to try and bolster his body, Naruto’s one question cut him to the quick.

“Why?”

The poor boy had no idea why Iruka would risk his life for him. Did he have such a low of opinion of his own worth? Had Iruka shown him so little care?

Iruka remembered Sandaime’s words and had a moment of clarity, one he needed to share with his student.

“Because you and I are the same. After my parents died, nobody paid attention to me or gave me any support. I wasn’t a good student in school. I was the class clown… because I wanted people to notice me. I couldn’t get noticed through excellence, so I kept doing stupid things. It was so hard.”

It was a painful admission, made all the worse by the increasing physical pain throughout his body. Iruka soon realised he was on the verge of crying, but he kept talking as the tears started to fall.

Isn’t that right, Naruto? You felt so lonely…right? And you suffered inside, right? I’m sorry, Naruto… If I had been more responsible, maybe you wouldn’t have suffered so much.”

As he poured his heart out Naruto, he heard Mizuki laugh mockingly.

“Don’t make me laugh! Iruka has always hated you, ever since you killed his parents! He’s just saying all that to get the Scroll of Seals back!”

Mizuki’s words undid all the good Iruka’s confession had done, and Naruto took off with the scroll while Iruka could only watch.

“Naruto!”

Now alone with Mizuki, he resolved to do what he could to ensure Mizuki was held to account for what he’d done.

“He is not the type of kid who will change his mind,” Mizuki chuckled, “He will take revenge against our village using that scroll! Didn’t you see his eyes? Those are the eyes of a Demon Fox.”

Angered beyond words by his supposed friend’s actions, Iruka threw caution to the wind and yanked the shuriken out of his back. He knew he had to stop Mizuki no matter what.

“No… Naruto…isn’t… like that at all!”

Iruka launched the shuriken back at Mizuki, but in his injured state his aim was off, allowing Mizuki to dodge the shuriken effortlessly.

“All I want is to kill Naruto and get the scroll. I’ll take care of you later.”

Mizuki took off after Naruto.

“I won’t let you…” Iruka vowed, chasing after the Chūnin.

Despite his injuries. Iruka was still quicker than Mizuki and quickly thought of a plan to keep him away from Naruto. Iruka transformed into Naruto and adopted his gait as he jumped through the trees. Mizuki appeared behind him, disguised as Iruka.

“Everything that Mizuki said was a lie! Give me that scroll, quick! Mizuki is after the scroll!” Mizuki said with Iruka’s voice.

As “Iruka” jumped in front of him, Iruka pounced, pushing him out of the trees to the ground.

As they reached the forest floor, Mizuki muttered, “it can’t be….”

Iruka collapsed to the ground as Mizuki tried to get back up.

“Why is it, Naruto? How did you know I wasn’t Iruka?” he spat, turning back into himself.

 Iruka laughed a little and turned back into himself, “Because I’m Iruka.”

“I see. What’s in it for you to protect the one who killed your family?”

“I’m not going to let a stupid idiot like you get that scroll!” Iruka growled.

“You’re the idiot. Naruto is the same as me.”

“Same?” what on Earth did Mizuki mean?

“Anyone can do whatever he wants once he has the scroll. There is no way that that monster… that Fox Spirit, won’t take advantage of the power of that scroll!”

 _You’re wrong,_ Iruka thought wryly.

“You’re right… if he was the Demon Fox. But Naruto is different! I know that he is an exceptional student. He works very hard, and he’s single minded and clumsy at the same time. No one accepts him, but he knows the meaning of human suffering. He is not the Demon Fox. He’s Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure no Sato!”

His words struck a nerve with Mizuki, “You are so gullible. Iruka! I was gonna take you down later, but I have changed my mind.”

Mizuki readied his remaining shuriken and spun it wildly.

“Die!”

 _I guess this is the end for me…_ Iruka thought, realising that with his injured leg and back he had no hope of dodging the weapon.

But as Mizuki prepared to kill him, he was suddenly attacked by Naruto who knocked him flying.

Iruka was amazed, as was Mizuki.

“You surprised me there, freak.”

Naruto stood between Mizuki and Iruka, “If you ever lay a hand on Iruka Sensei, I’ll kill you!”

Naruto delivered his threat with such determination that for a moment Iruka could believe he had the skill to carry it out!

“Shut up! I can take care of a kid like you with a single blow!”

“Why don’t you try then? I’ll strike you back a thousand-fold!”

“Let’s see you try! Show me what you can, Demon Fox!”

Iruka felt his panic return. Naruto wouldn’t stand a chance against Mizuki!

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

Suddenly Iruka found himself surrounded by literally hundreds of Narutos.

_Naruto! You’ve… Those aren’t just images but actual clones! That’s an advanced Ninjutsu!_

Iruka was utterly amazed. This was well beyond what anyone should be able to do with Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

Mizuki was flummoxed as the Kage Bunshins surrounded him and began to goad him, and Iruka could only watch in stunned amusement as Naruto’s clones beat Mizuki up.

As dawn broke Naruto dispersed his clones while apologising for going overboard with Mizuki.

“I kinda got carried away. Iruka Sensei, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

 _Maybe he’s right. Maybe he will surpass the previous Hokage…_ Iruka mused as he looked at his student.

And Mizuki might have lied to him to get him to steal the scroll, but that Jutsu was so far ahead of what any twelve-year old should be able to do that Iruka decided Naruto had more than earned his forehead protector.

“Naruto, come over here. I’d like to give you something.”

Naruto walked over diligently.

“Close your eyes.”

Naruto let out a big puff of air and screwed his eyes shut. Iruka quickly removed his goggles before wrapping his own forehead protector around Naruto’s head.

“Sensei, how much longer? Naruto asked as he finished.

“Okay, you may open your eyes now,” Iruka said brightly.

After Naruto opened his eyes, it took a few seconds for him to figure out what Iruka had done.

“Congratulations… on your graduation,” Iruka smiled.

Naruto was utterly speechless, so Iruka opted to break the silence.

“In celebration, we’ll have ramen tonight!”

Still no response. Iruka looked up with concern, in time for Naruto to knock him to the ground in a bear hug.

“Iruka Sensei!”

As Iruka’s back connected with a tree, he shouted “That hurts!”

Naruto kept on hugging him in between sobbing and cheering completely overcome with emotion.

The Medic Corps found them like that and had to instruct Naruto to leave Iruka alone for a minute.

“Sandaime sent us, he was watching you with his jutsu,” one of the medical-nin explained as he used Mystical Palm on Iruka’s wounds.

“You’ve been lucky. You’ve avoided major injury, but you’ll still need to go to the hospital for a check up and to get bandaged up.”

“Thank you,” Iruka thanked the medical-nin, “Naruto, I’d like you to come with me to the hospital.”

Iruka clambered to his feet as the Anbu arrived to apprehend Mizuki, sniggering when they learned it was Naruto who’d beaten him up.

* * *

“Iruka Sensei, who were those guys in the masks? I’ve seen them before, but I don’t know anything about them.”

Iruka and Naruto were now at the hospital where Iruka was getting his injuries bandaged up. And of all the questions he expected from Naruto, that wasn’t it.

“They’re called the Anbu. They’re special ninja who report directly to Hokage-sama. They do lots of special missions for the village.”

“Do they outrank you?”

“Yes and no. Some of them are Chūnin like I am, but if they give me an order I need to follow it as their orders are issued by the Hokage himself.”

Naruto screwed up his face, seemingly struggling to understand how shinobi of the same rank could order each other around.

“Okay Iruka Sensei, I think you’re ready to be discharged,” the nurse smiled as she finished her work.

“Thank you.”

As the nurse turned to leave he heard the door slide open.

“Oh! Hokage-sama!”

“I’m just here to visit Iruka Sensei,” Sarutobi smiled, “But I hear you’re discharging him.”

“Yes, I’m just about to get the paperwork.”

“Can I ask you to take your time doing that, and can I ask for none of the staff to bother us?”

“Of course, Hokage-sama.”

The nurse left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

“How are you Iruka Sensei?”

“I’m okay Hokage-sama, thank you. The bandages make it look worse than it is,” he shrugged.

“He took a really big shuriken to the back Jiji,” Naruto said gravely.

“I know, your sensei was very brave,” Hiruzen smiled, “Now Naruto, I’m here to talk to you about some of the things Mizuki said.”

Naruto’s expression changed from one of concern to one of fear, “I’m not the Demon Fox, am I?”

Hiruzen sighed, “You’re not the fox, but the fox lives inside you.”

“Huh?”

Hiruzen nodded in Iruka’s direction.

_Oh great, I get to explain it._

“Naruto, you remember when I taught you about fuinjutsu and how things can be sealed away?”

“That’s what I did with the scroll, well the opposite," Naruto responded before turning to Sarutobi, "Hokage Jiji you should make the scroll more difficult to steal! The seal was really easy to undo!”

Iruka hoped he’d successfully hidden his amusement as Sarutobi shuffled uncomfortably on his feet.

“Of course, Naruto.”

Iruka continued, “Well…You already know that on the day you were born the village was attacked by the Demon Fox.”

“Uh huh.”

“Well the Fox was really big, and really powerful. No-one in the village could kill it – it was just too strong, so the Yondaime Hokage had to seal it away to keep everyone safe.”

“And he couldn’t put it in a scroll?”

“It was too big, so it had to be sealed in a person.”

Hiruzen took over explaining the next bit, “The Kyūbi had to be sealed in a new-born baby. It couldn’t be sealed in a grown-up. You were the newest baby in the village, so you were chosen.”

“Why couldn’t a grown-up do it?” Naruto said leveling a serious look at the Hokage.

Hiruzen winced and Iruka wondered just how he’d explain away this bit to Naruto.

“Children are remarkably adaptable and you’re able to cope with a lot of stuff us grown-ups can’t. Most adults couldn’t become the Kyūbi’s vessel as it would kill them, but a baby like you could adapt.”

It was an awful explanation, but Naruto seemed to buy it, nodding his head thoughtfully.

“So, I saved everyone from the Kyūbi?”

“Yes,” Hiruzen smiled.

“So why do they all hate me then?”

Hiruzen was quiet again and flitted a look to Iruka.

“They don’t all hate you Naruto,” Iruka said gently, “But a lot of people don’t understand how seals work, so some people think you are actually the Kyūbi even though you obviously aren't, and a lot of the villagers, even though they know that still think the Kyūbi might escape and hurt them.”

Naruto's eyes widened in panic, “But it can’t, right?!”

“No it can’t,” Iruka smiled and patted Naruto on the head, “We’re all safe from it because of you.”

“So it won’t kill anyone else like it did my parents…or your parents Sensei?” Naruto said quietly.

Iruka moved his hand to Naruto’s shoulder, “No. No-one else can be hurt by it as long as you’re safe.”

Naruto gave his teacher a small smile before Hiruzen continued.

“Now that you know the truth Naruto, I have to ask you to observe the rule Mizuki mentioned. The rest of your class and the younger shinobi in the village don’t know anything about the Kyūbi and I would like to keep it that way. I don’t want you talking about the Kyūbi to anyone other than Iruka and your Jōnin Sensei when you’re assigned one.”

Naruto nodded solemnly.

* * *

 

Late that afternoon Iruka met Naruto at Ichiraku as agreed. They’d both cleaned up and slept for a few hours. Now they were both sat over bowls of their favourite Tonkotsu ramen. Their conversation had been easy and happy for the most part until Naruto suddenly grew sombre.

“Mizuki said you hated me.”

“He was just trying to get you to take his side so you’d give him the scroll.”

“But the," Naruto's voice became a whisper, "Demon Fox killed your parents.”

Iruka set his chopsticks down and looked at his student, “It did…And It hurt a lot, but if the fox had never been sealed then I’d have lost a lot more people that night. I might even have been killed myself. So while I’ll admit I hate the fox…I could never hate you, Naruto.”

Iruka realised their quiet conversation had been overheard by Teuchi who gave Iruka a slight nod before serving up two fresh bowls of ramen.

“Free ramen on us,” Teuchi smiled before returning to his work.

“Thank you-tebayo!” Naruto said, making quick work of the bowl he already had before tucking into his free ramen with gusto.

Iruka made a note to thank Teuchi properly later for his kindness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to get inside Iruka's mind so this is going to be a bit of character study showing how Iruka initially grows closer to Naruto and later how he and Kakashi get to know each other! Leave a comment if you liked this chapter!


	2. All Change!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Konohamaru enrolls at the Ninja Academy and Naruto prepares to become a fully fledged ninja, Iruka worries about Naruto's Jōnin Sensei's suitability.

The next day, Iruka had recovered some more, and although still covered in bandages, he turned up at the academy eager to do some work.

After all, with his current homeroom class leaving, it meant he’d soon be entrusted to watch over a new class, and with Mizuki being locked up, someone would need to pick up the slack for him.

Mizuki hadn’t been entrusted with his own class yet, but he’d served as a shurikenjutsu instructor. As a fundamental of the shinobi arts, the academy needed as many people proficient with weapons as possible.

“I don’t think that look will catch on, Iruka Sensei,” Suzume smirked in his direction as he walked into the staff room.

“I hope not!” he agreed, blushing slightly, “It looks far worse than it is though.”

“I wouldn’t have though Mizuki could lay a hand on you if I’m honest,” Suzume sighed, “but I guess you had Naruto to protect.”

Iruka nodded, retrieving some documents from his mail slot.

“I guess, but I think I’ll need to do a bit of training myself, I think I’m getting a little rusty.”

Suzume put a hand on his shoulder “I think that’s true for most of the academy staff, but you did good yesterday, you did all us senseis proud by keeping Naruto safe.”

Iruka blushed again as Suzume turned to leave.

As he took a seat to sort through his documents, Iruka thought about some of his colleagues. The principal was an aging man who was very much removed from the school. In fact, the last time Iruka had seen him he’d been on a rooftop painting a beautiful canvas of Hokage Rock. Daikoku Sensei was a bit of a moron, that was the honest conclusion he’d come to. Suzume was lovely but she was limited to teaching Kunoichi studies – something that was very much her niche, and a skill-set that was in decline as the nature of ninja missions changed. There were a few other specialists, mostly specialising in taijutsu, shurikenjutsu (like Mizuki) and undercover training. After them it was the homeroom teachers who were tasked with teaching the general skillset alongside basic academic studies. Apart from that there were a few visiting Jōnin who helped to teach special classes like Sarutobi Asuma. Most of his colleagues were nice people, but this incident with Mizuki had unnerved him. It was rare that Iruka so badly misjudged someone.

Iruka sorted through his documents: there was a note about a new textbook he should buy for his incoming class (surely someone else should bulk order things like that?); charts for hiragana and katakana; a poster with the kanji for ‘Shinobi’ and a voucher for Iruka to pick up stationery for his new pre-genin (again, surely someone should be able to requisition that!). He also had a list of his new students and one name jumped out at him – Sarutobi Konohamaru. It seemed that Sandaime was entrusting him with his only grandchild. Perhaps a vote of confidence after his handing of the Mizuki incident? Teaching a Sarutobi would be interesting, given their aptitude for elemental ninjutsu.

After looking over materials for his new class, he saw that the next bundle was a pile of new registration profiles for his old class. He looked through the sheets feeling an odd sense of pride and accomplishment at the familiar faces of his class, now wearing their forehead protectors. But he felt a knot of worry as well – were they really all ready for the reality of going on missions? Only time would tell.

One profile was missing though – Naruto’s.

“Daikoku Sensei – one of the new registration profiles hasn’t been filed.”

The vice principal was sat at another desk in the cramped office and peeked out from behind the other side of the central pillar.

“Naruto’s having to redo it, but his first one’s now on our hall of fame.”

Daikoku pointed at the noticeboard on the far wall behind Iruka. Turning around he saw a spectacular picture of Naruto, complete with kabuki-esque face paint. Bringing a palm to his face Iruka began to silently curse. He’d just stuck his neck out to pass the boy and here he was pulling yet another stunt.

Daikoku’s sniggering caught his attention.

“Sensei?”

“Well we’re trusting your judgement on the brat, but at least he gave us all a good chuckle!”

“Does Sandaime know?” Iruka asked, already knowing the answer.

“Hokage-sama opted to personally review the profiles. He’s away meeting some Jōnin Senseis just now to finalise the genin teams.”

* * *

 

Iruka quickly checked a few locations in the village where the Jōnin were known to frequent. A stop at the Dango shop saw Asuma, Kurenai and Gai point him in the direction of the Jōnin apartments, but there was no sign of the Hokage there. Eventually as he made his way to the Jōnin station he spotted the Hokage on the rooftop of his office. He quickly used body flicker to get up there where Sarutobi seemed to have his eyes fixed on Yondaime’s stone image.

“Sandaime, I’ve been looking for you.”

“Iruka, huh,” the Hokage sounded like he was a million miles away, his gaze not shifting from Hokage Rock.

“Did Naruto re-submit his Ninja Registration Form?”

“Mmm,” Hiruzen grunted as an affirmation.

“When I lectured him the other night at the ramen shop, he said he will make everyone accept him now that he’s a ninja. He’s been happy since then,” Iruka couldn’t help but smile as he spoke.

Knowing his smile had crept into his voice, he thought it was odd that Sarutobi hadn’t turned around to look at him, instead he kept staring at Namikaze-sama’s image.

“It might not be easy for Naruto to realise that dream,” Hiruzen said eventually.

“Huh?”

“As you well know, only the villagers who fought the Kyūbi twelve years ago know that the monster is sealed inside Naruto. I ruled that no one should speak about that incident. I have severely punished those who have broken this rule. Now our children know nothing about it. This is the only positive development for Naruto. Before the Yondaime trapped the monster and died, his last wish was for the villagers to regard Naruto as a hero.”

“A hero?”

“Yondaime sealed the monster into the navel of a new-born baby whose umbilical cord had just been cut. As the receptacle for the Kyūbi, Naruto saved the village. Unfortunately, the other villagers don’t see him like that. Some even say that Naruto is the Kyūbi himself. Little by little that attitude has been passed down to their own children. Iruka. Do you know?”

“What sir?”

“When someone is hated, and people refuse to accept his existence, he sees it in the eyes of the people around him.”

Iruka felt a lump in his throat at that statement and thought back to an incident that occurred only a few months after he’d started teaching Naruto. One night he’d encountered some of the kids in his class running outside the cemetery, screaming that there was a monster fox on the loose. Iruka had immediately ran into the graveyard and had seen a figure atop the Fire Monument. As the figure jumped down, Iruka readied a kunai, only to realise it was Naruto wearing a curtain and one of those fake Anbu masks that were so popular in the shops around town. As Naruto began talking about what he’d been doing, Iruka thought back to his parents sacrifice on the night of the Kyūbi’s attack and grew angry at Naruto for pulling a prank at the cemetery where so many of those killed that night had been laid to rest – his own parents included.

As he thought about his parents, his anger had grown, and he decided to admonish his student.

_“Naruto… Do you realize what you’re doing?”_

Iruka had said nothing apart from that when Naruto had grown angry.

_“Why? Why?! Why does everyone, even my homeroom teacher… Why do you all look at me like that?! I’m not a nuisance and I’m not some kind of germ! I’m… I’m Uzumaki Naruto!”_

At the time, Iruka had been taken aback by Naruto’s comments and had been speechless when Naruto had announced he was never going back to the academy.

Now, he understood why Naruto had reacted so vehemently back then – Iruka’s hatred for the Kyūbi had probably been clear for Naruto to see, and he’d have thought it was directed at him.

“I understand what you’re saying Hokage-sama. Naruto has made mention of seeing that sort of reaction from people before.”

Hiruzen nodded, “It’s a large burden for him to deal with. It’ll make proving himself to his peers all the more difficult. Eventually his classmates will discover what he is, and almost all his seniors will already know. He may need support from his old sensei as he moves forward in his career.”

Iruka nodded, “I’ll endeavour to help Naruto in any way I can, Hokage-sama.”

Finally, Hiruzen turned to meet his gaze, “I’m glad to hear that Iruka. Now I think you should get those bandages removed so you can help me finalise the genin teams.”

Huh?

* * *

 

A short trip to the hospital later, Iruka was bandage-free and sat in Hiruzen’s spacious study. The room was adorned with the elderly Shinobi’s brushwork. How the Hokage found time to do so much calligraphy was a mystery.

It wasn’t normal for a mere Homeroom teacher to assist with genin team formations. Occasionally the principal or the vice principal would be invited to see the list, but never junior staff.

“You’re wondering why you’re here.”

“Yes sir.”

Sarutobi smiled wryly, “You’ve helped turn out one of the best classes I’ve seen in a number of years. The students have a very high opinion of you, and you seem attuned to your students needs. I doubt the likes of Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba or Naruto would have graduated without you, and you helped pinpoint the intellectual and analytical skills of other students like Sakura and Ino. The decisions about who will be grouped together are already made, but I would like your honest opinions.”

Iruka nodded and started flicking through the large book he was handed, past many pages of teams past and present, until he found newly inked pages.

Teams 1 – 6 were fine, consisting of well-balanced students whose abilities would complement each other. There was no Team 5 as Maito Gai’s Team 5 from the previous year had yet to pass their Chūnin exam – the number 5 would only become available if that team passed the exam or disbanded.

After all the average run of the mill teams however, Team 7 came as a shock, and Iruka didn’t know if the Hokage had made a big mistake or if he’d just reaffirmed his genius.

Uchiha Sasuke. Haruno Sakura. Uzumaki Naruto.

Talk about drastic.

Iruka spent a moment or two thinking about it – Sasuke was the star pupil in his class, only ever beaten in teamwork and in purely academic areas. Sakura, although showing no natural talent or predisposition for any type of ninjutsu, had a sharp, analytical mind. And Naruto? Well he was bottom of the class in just about everything, but he could surprise like no other, as he had Iruka when he’d fought Mizuki. With Naruto’s very evident, if one-sided rivalry with Sasuke and his equally transparent crush on Sakura, Iruka realised there were no better teammates to help Naruto improve.

“Sasuke and Naruto will be on the same team? That’s brilliant! Sasuke graduated at the top of his class out of 27 students… Whereas Naruto was last in class. It seems you did that to keep the team balanced!”

Hiruzen remained silent, taking a puff of his pipe before inclining his head slightly as if to indicate his agreement.

Next was Team 8, an equally inspired team setup.

“Hinata doesn’t have a lot of confidence, but she has a lot of potential. As an Inuzuka, Kiba will view his teammates as his pack and he’ll want the best for them, so he’ll be supportive of her as will Shino, but Kiba’s brash and clumsy. Shino is stoic and analytical but has a lot of patience. Hopefully some of that will brush off on Kiba, and I think Shino will benefit from having Hinata on the team – he’s very socially awkward while Hinata’s very kind and supportive to everyone. She’s won’t judge him for his bugs the way others might, and Kiba won’t care either since he knows the value of having a non-human partner.”

Team 9 was a standard team with three of the kids from the bottom half of the class, and the final team, Team 10 was the least surprising at all – Ino-Shika-Chō 16.

“The Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka have specially requested my younger son Asuma to lead this team. Apparently Asuma is already acquainted with the children and our clan has close ties to all three of theirs.”

Iruka nodded, remembering the earring ceremonies the Sarutobi would officiate for the Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka Clans.

“As for the other senseis,” Hiruzen began rattling through names, “…Team 7 will be lead by Hatake Kakashi, Team 8 by Yūhi Kurenai, Team 9 by…”

So Hatake Kakashi would lead Naruto’s team? He wasn’t expecting that, but the man had a Sharingan, apparently, so it made sense he’d be assigned to lead whichever team Sasuke was on.

* * *

 

The next day Iruka welcomed back his old class one final time. He arrived after his class had and noticed Naruto looking beat up. Sasuke meanwhile was blushing ever so slightly and most of the kunoichi in the class were shooting Naruto murderous looks, particularly Sakura.

Oh dear.

He wondered how the three would react to being on a team together…

Iruka quickly gave the fledgling teams their assignments, inwardly chuckling at some of the genins’ reactions to their assigned teams. Assignments handed out, the genin were dismissed to meet with their Jōnin Senseis in the afternoon.

After their break they filed back into the class and one team after another, Iruka watched as his kids went off with their new senseis, eager to start their ninja apprenticeships. Eventually only a few teams remained, including Naruto’s when Iruka was called away by Daikoku.

“But where’s our sensei dattebayo?!” Naruto whined.

“I’m sure Kakashi Sensei, Asuma Sensei and Kurenai Sensei will be here shortly Naruto, I’ll check back later so don’t worry.”

Iruka left his former students and followed Daikoku along to the principal’s office.

“Hokage-sama wishes to speak to you about his grandson,” Daikoku explained.

“Thank you, Daikoku Sensei.”

Iruka knocked the door and went inside the office. As usual the principal was nowhere to be seen, and Hiruzen was sat his desk instead.

“Thank you for meeting me Iruka.”

Iruka nodded politely, “You wished to discuss the Honourable Grandson with me?”

Hiruzen chuckled, “If you want to get on my grandson’s good side, he informs me that he prefers to be addressed by his given name. He may get angry if he’s called the Honourable Grandson!”

“Noted.”  


“I’ll be blunt with you Iruka. Konohamaru will likely prove to be a challenging student. He’s pretty smart but cannot find a proper outlet for his energy, and he’s run his tutor – Ebisu – ragged these last few months as a result. We had to assign a tutor to him due to his parents’ work – as you may already know, they’re both in the Anbu. I spend as much time as I can with him, but I’m often very busy, as is Asuma. He’s become very boisterous and free-spirited recently, not unlike another student we’ve been discussing these past few days. I’m just asking you to keep a close eye on Konohamaru and report back any particular difficulties that may arise so that I as his grandfather can help get him on track.”

“That won’t be a problem at all, Hokage-sama.”

That evening Iruka decided to go for a couple of drinks, eager to relax a little after a very busy few days. The next day would be interesting as the academy would be admitting Konohamaru and his class. Because of this, Iruka decided he was only going to have a couple of drinks to celebrate Naruto’s class graduating.

He found himself at a bar he didn’t often frequent – going to a familiar haunt would mean familiar faces and the risk of ending up drinking too much! As a result, he was now sat in a little bar frequented by the older shinobi in the village and found he could enjoy his drinks in peace – or so he thought.

An older shinobi Iruka only recognised in passing started talking loudly.

“So, what do you make of that Friend Killer getting another shot at leading a team?”

“I know!” shouted another, “And I know we’re not supposed to talk about it, but he’s leading _that_ team.”

“Cold-blooded Kakashi, the Kyūbi brat and the last Uchiha on the one team? Sandaime’s gone mad!”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky and the Friend Killer will take care of that Naruto for us!”

After that remark the group of shinobi began chuckling, obviously relishing the thought of Naruto getting killed while showing disdain for both the Hokage and Kakashi.

Iruka was horrified and angry. How dare they make such callous, flippant remarks! It wouldn’t pay to lose his temper though – a lone Chūnin against a bunch of seasoned, slightly drunk Jōnin was a recipe for disaster. Iruka hastily downed his beer before leaving.

Although he was angry at the Jōnin for their comments, he was also now very worried about what he’d just heard.

Kakashi was the ‘Friend Killer’ Mizuki had referred to.

Would Naruto be safe?

* * *

The next day, the comments he’d heard about Kakashi were still weighing heavily on Iruka’s mind. As he collected some things from the staff room for his new class, he decided to ask Daikoku, who was sitting going over some paperwork, about what he’d heard. While the man wasn’t his favourite person, he was still the Vice Principal, and it was likely he knew things Iruka didn’t.

“Daikoku Sensei, I was wondering if you had a moment or two while the staff room is quiet?”

“Go right ahead.”

“It’s about Hatake Kakashi? The Jōnin in charge of Team 7?”

“What about him?”

“I’ve heard some…interesting stories about him.”

Daikoku nodded his head, “He’s an ex-Anbu.”

“Yes, I know, but he’s been back in regular service for a number of years now.”

“If you’re referring to his record as a potential Jōnin Sensei, the Hokage’s had no issues with regards to his performance,” Daikoku responded.

“Well, it wasn’t that…it was a moniker I heard attributed to him.”

Daikoku’s shoulders fell a little, so clearly he knew something, “Kakashi has a few of those.”

“I heard he’s known as the ‘Friend Killer’.”

“That’s probably the least-flattering of his nicknames. From what I understand he’s been in some tough situations over the years and has absolutely no problem sacrificing teammates to complete a mission – he’s a stickler for the rules. Some people think it’s why the Hokage decided he should teach the Genin – he’s less likely to be in a situation were someone will need to be sacrificed if he’s stuck catching cats and running errands for old people…But it seems the Hokage’s plan’s hit a snag – Kakashi hasn’t passed any of the students that have been assigned to him. Every graduation cycle he gets given a class and fails them within a day or so. Does that clear up some of the mystery?”

Iruka nodded, “Thank you Daikoku Sensei, you’ve been very helpful.”

Leaving the staff room, Iruka turned to go down the stairs to prep for the Academy Entrance Ceremony, determined that he would speak to Sarutobi later that day about Kakashi.

Downstairs a few overly eager students were already standing in the courtyard, with a couple of them playing on the swing that had belonged almost solely to Naruto for the last several years. Some parents chatted animatedly, obviously excited either at the prospect of their children beginning their journeys towards becoming ninja, or maybe they were just happy to finally get some free time once their kids enrolled.

He noticed the Hokage arriving with Konohamaru who appeared to have ditched the old helmet he almost always wore and – was that Naruto’s goggles? No, they had Konohamaru written on them, but they were definitely the same kind of goggles. Konohamaru also had a satchel with him and Iruka could see another pair of goggles sticking out of the top.

“Hokage-sama, thank you for joining us!”

Sarutobi inclined his head, “Thank you Iruka Sensei. This is my grandson Konohamaru. He’ll be joining your class. I ask you to look after him and help him to grow strong in both body and mind.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama. Konohamaru-kun, I’m looking forward to being your homeroom teacher. Are you excited about beginning your studies with us?”

“I’m going to be the best student in your class sensei, just you watch. I’m going to surpass my Jiji one day and become Hokage, I swear-kore!”

_Hokage ambition – check. Verbal-tic – check. Kami-sama, is this a test?_

“That’s very noble ambition Konohamaru-kun, but you have the best possible role-model in your grandfather,” Iruka gave a nod and a smile in the Hokage’s direction.

Some chūnin who’d been drafted in to help prepare the courtyard walked by and Iruka turned around to see that the small stage for the Hokage’s speech had been assembled, and that the welcome banner over the front entrance was in place. All that was needed now was the rest of the academy staff and the rest of the new students. With time running short, Iruka decided to make his request.

“Hokage-sama, I was wondering if I could talk to you about a private matter after I teach Konohamaru’s class today?”

“Of course, I have a meeting with the Principal scheduled for later. I can meet you in the atrium for some tea later.”

“Thank you.”

The Entrance Ceremony went without a hitch, with the Hokage giving his usual warm speech to the children. The children were well behaved, save for Konohamaru who interrupted his grandfather a few times during the speech. As Sarutobi talked, he saw a child shuffle into the courtyard and stand at the back – Ise Udon.

“That’s the repeater,” Suzume whispered to Iruka.

Udon’s parents had enrolled him as soon as he was eligible, but he’d failed to flourish and as such had failed his first year at the academy. He filed into the same line as Konohamaru but didn’t talk or make eye contact with any of the children. Hopefully this year with peers the same age as him, he’d do a lot better.

* * *

 

His first lesson with his new class was a short one. The students were made to introduce themselves to their classmates and then asked to fill in a sheet stating their name, age and hobbies to allow Iruka to assess their written skills. After that they were free to go, with full lessons starting the next day. The class went smoothly, apart from Konohamaru’s interruptions and the young boy’s demand to be addressed as “Konohamaru”, not “Konohamaru-kun”. As his young charges left however, something began to concern Iruka.

These children were all 7 or 8 years old, and about a third of them couldn’t write more than their names. This was even worse than Naruto’s class had been when he’d taken over as their teacher.

With his day’s work over, Iruka walked to the atrium that doubled as the Chūnin meeting hall and the indoor training area. The Hokage was sat at a small table by the windows with a small pot of tea and two cups.

“Iruka,” the Hokage inclined his head.

“Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Hokage-sama.”

Iruka sat down, unsure about how he should ask about Kakashi. Instead he quietly thanked Sarutobi when he poured him a cup of tea and nursed it for several moments, taking a few long sips before setting the cup down on the table.

“What do you want to know?” the Hokage said abruptly, “I didn’t think you just came here to drink tea. “

With no method of stalling and no soft way to approach his questions, Iruka decided to dive in at the deep end.

“The Jōnin for Naruto and his teammates’ Team 7… What kind of teacher is he? Is he strict?”

“You mean Kakashi? Does he concern you?”

“I heard a rumour that concerns me.”

 Sarutobi produced a book from his haori and placed it with a slight thud on the table in front of him.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a pass-fail list of the genin Kakashi has been in charge of up until now.”

“Let me have a look.”

Iruka reached for the book and began reading at the first page he opened.

Inside was a mess. Unlike other Jōnin Senseis who made up profiles for each student and then gave an appraisal of their performance along with their end grade, Kakashi’s was haphazard list of students’ names, all with fail written next to them.

Yes, it appeared Kakashi had failed every single student he’d ever been given.

“T-This is… It can’t be! This is more than just a rumour.”

“Kakashi’s test might be a bit difficult,” the Hokage began to explain.

“Even so, this means absolutely no-one has passed!”

“That’s right…Kakashi has never had someone pass. They’ve all been annihilated.”

“N-No way! Kakashi hasn’t passed a single person this whole time…”

“Iruka… Even I don’t know if it’s good for those kids to become Shinobi right away… However, Kakashi’s judgements were correct.”

Iruka turned to look at the book again. He read the list of names and saw notes of years the students had been assigned to Kakashi. It seemed Kakashi had been failing genin for four or five years. Iruka knew there were students passing the exam most years who wouldn’t make good ninja, but Kakashi’s choice of test must either be far beyond the abilities of a genin, or just plain cruel to result in a 100% fail rate. How could the Hokage support such a test?

With enough of his concerns about Kakashi raised for now, he decided it was best to stop taking up the Hokage’s time.

“I must be going.”

Sensing Iruka was about to leave, the Hokage began to speak, “Listen to me, Iruka.”

“Huh?”

“No matter the result, don’t hold it against Kakashi.”

It seemed an oddly personal request from the Hokage, something that hinted at the aging Shinobi having a soft spot for the Friend Killer.

“Alright.”

Iruka left the Hokage alone after that, his concerns not allayed in any real way. In fact, a part of him was hoping Naruto would fail so he could try again in six months to impress new Jōnin Sensei.

* * *

 

Several hours later Iruka sat at Ichiraku trying to force himself to down a small-ish bowl of Ramen. Whenever he was worried about something his appetite would be the first thing to go, but he was determined to talk his fears down and not give him into them.

As he ate a narutomaki, he heard familiar footsteps approaching.

“Iruka Sensei!”

It was a Naruto.

“Look what I just got!”

Naruto quickly climbed up onto the stool next to him and shouted his order at Teuchi. As the chef began to prepare Naruto’s ramen, Naruto placed a brown envelope on the counter and pulled a photograph from it.

It was a genin team picture of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi.

“It’s a good picture Naruto, even if you were obviously in a bad mood with Sasuke when it was taken,” he chuckled, “but put the picture away in case you spill something on it…And remember, don’t be too upset if you don’t pass your new sensei’s test.”

“Huh? But we already did his survival test with the bells and passed!” Naruto exclaimed.

As Naruto put the picture away, Iruka took another look at his ex-student, noticing that Naruto was a little dishevelled, with damp patches all over his clothing.

“You passed Kakashi Sensei’s test?”

“Yup! He told us we’re the first group he’s ever passed, and we start missions tomorrow! I can’t wait! It was such a hard test though Iruka Sensei…I thought I was gonna die!”

Iruka’s knot of worry increased in size, and his anger moved up a gear. How dare a Jōnin make a genin fear for their life!

“You nearly died?!”

“Of hunger! He tricked us into not eating before and then taunted us with lunch! When we failed the first test he gave food to Sasuke and Sakura-chan and made me watch them eat while I was wasting away, tied to a post with my stomach growling! But Sasuke and Sakura-chan shared their food with me even though Kakashi told them not to and that’s how we passed!”

Thank goodness, it was just Naruto’s choice of words – he’d never been in actual danger, so that was a relief but – had he passed Kakashi’s test by disobeying an order?

“You passed by not doing what you were told?”

“Uh huh! Kakashi Sensei said he needed people who would do the best for their team, not just do what they’re told. Telling Sasuke and Sakura not to help me when I was part of the team was a stupid order, so they decided to help me, and I let them. Because we did that we showed we understood what teamwork was, so Kaka Sensei passed us!”

An interesting concept. Iruka made a note to find out more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad I wrote this after the most recent Boruto episode aired since it's let me add in a little bit about Udon for future chapters!


	3. The Mission Desk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iruka joins the mission desk and gets used to seeing his old students going out on missions.

A couple of weeks passed with Iruka seeing neither hide nor hair of Naruto or his team. His shifts on the mission desk showed the team had been active doing D-rank missions to a decidedly average standard. Iruka as the new genins’ past teacher had been picking up the slack for their mission reports. He found that Kurenai’s and Asuma were a joy to read – they were well-structured and well-written, averaging the recommended 4 – 5 pages length. Kurenai tended to ink her reports while Asuma used pen or pencil but the writing for both was clear and he enjoyed reading both senseis thoughts on their students. He noted that Kurenai focused a fair amount of attention on Hinata, continually praising her even when she’d caused the team to fail a mission. Asuma seemed to be just as focused on Shikamaru, and was arranging extra testing for the young Nara, believing him to have far greater abilities than Iruka had assessed him as having. Iruka wasn’t angry at Asuma for this – far from it in fact – as the son of Nara Shikaku and Yoshino, Iruka had expected to see a spark of brilliance from his laziest student at some point, but it had failed to materialise. Perhaps being out in the field had given Shikamaru a fresh perspective.

Kakashi’s reports however were a different matter. They were lazy, sarcastic and badly written. One report in its entirety had been:

_“Naruto discovered what Poison Ivy was while making sure we failed this mission! Expect Hikari-san to write a letter of complaint to the Hokage after Naruto swore at her and stripped off while scratching at himself in a panic._

_Request calamine lotion be added to the medical pack for D-Rank missions. Turns out gardening is dangerous!”_

Another report had consisted of a single line of text.

_“I see they stopped teaching common sense at the Academy. Mission Failed!”_

Jōnin or not he had a good mind to have words with Kakashi for his appalling reports and his dig at Iruka’s teaching abilities.

* * *

 

Today was his first day on Mission Desk duty that coincided with Team 7 picking up a new mission. The Daimyō’s wife’s cat Tora had made its most recent escape attempt and Sarutobi had decided it was time Team 7 got their chance to capture the long-suffering feline.

Iruka watched as the team filed in. Sakura entered first looking slightly irate, a grinning Naruto following with Sasuke trailing behind, his eyes closed, and his arms crossed. Finally, Kakashi appeared behind them and stood slouching and looking entirely disinterested.

“Ah, Team 7,” Sarutobi began, gesturing for Kakashi to come forward and collect their mission scroll from Iruka.

“Hokage-sama,” Kakashi responded.

Kakashi walked forward with no enthusiasm and unenthusiastically took the scroll from Iruka, giving him a slight smile as he did so, At least, Iruka thought it was a smile. It was hard to tell.

Kakashi made no effort to read the scroll and Hiruzen began to talk.

“Madam Shijimi’s cat Tora has gone missing again.”

Kakashi let out a loud sigh at that statement but the Hokage said nothing.

“Your mission is to catch the cat.”

“Yes sir,” he responded.

“Another cat?! Why always cats?! Why not dogs or canaries or some other pet? Or a turtle or something?!?” Naruto whined loudly.

“Cats are far more likely to run away, baka!” Sakura chided him.

“But I’m BORED OF CATS!”

“Naruto!” Iruka and Kakashi yelled in unison.

The two senseis locked eyes for a second, before Iruka conceded it was now Kakashi’s place to give the boy a telling-off.

“Naruto, a mission is a mission. Madam Shijimi will be paying us to bring back her cat. She is paying for our services, so we need to do as good a job catching this cat as we did our very first one.”

Naruto grumbled a little and shouted at Sasuke, “Aren’t you bored of this too?”

Sasuke continued crossing his arms and looking away from his team, “You heard Kakashi. A mission is a mission.”

So Sasuke was still refusing to use honorifics.

Kakashi finally opened the scroll and gave it a brief glance before returning it to the mission desk.

“We’re testing the new radios today. This mission seems ideal for it. We’ll be back with the cat in no time. Team 7, let’s move out.”

As Team 7 turned to leave the Mission Room, Naruto looked back at Iruka, gave him a grin and waved.

“Bye Iruka Sensei! Can we get ramen sometime soon?”

“Catch this cat and we’ll see!” 

* * *

 

With all existing missions given out, it was time to process the next batch of incoming requests. Unusually Sarutobi decided to stay seated while mission requests were received. Some came by way of written missive and were collated by Yurika who worked at the aviary. Other requests were made in person. Yurika had already sorted the written requests into ranked piles – a quick check over them saw Iruka and Sarutobi agreeing with her decisions.

Next came the requests in person, and it was the usual mixed bag: Mako-san wanting help painting his shop; Teru-san wanted help with deliveries to and from Tanzaku Quarters – the nearest civilian town to Konoha, since his normal courier was sick; Kaoru-san wanted help purchasing a very rare and very pricy bottle of Sake from an auction, also in Tanzaku Quarters.

After those and numerous other requests, a slightly drunk older man walked in, carrying a bottle of sake.

Before introducing himself, the main pointed a finger, “Wait – are you the Hokage?”

“Yes,” Sandaime answered brusquely, “And your request?”

“Hmm,” the man scratched at his chin with his fingers and furrowed his brow, “Well you see, I’m an important man in my village and I’ve been here in Konoha on business. I’m going back to the Nami no Kuni to complete a vital piece of infrastructure – a bridge that will connect my nation to the mainland! However, I’m not all that keen on walking home alone because bandits and the like, so I’m requesting an escort for the return journey.”

Sandaime nodded his head, “An understandable request, and how much are you offering in payment?”

The man rummaged around and produced a small linen bag which he tried to hand to Sarutobi.

“Please sir, if you could hand it to the bursar,” Iruka smiled and gestured to the far end of the table.

The man nodded and handed the bag to Riku who took a cursory glance at the contents of the bag. What followed next was a chain of whispers up to the Hokage’s ear. Sarutobi nodded and started talking to the man again.

“This won’t get you more than a basic escort, Mr…”

“Tazuna. Tazuna the Bridge Builder.”

“Okay, Mr. Tazuna. Is that acceptable for you?”

Tazuna shot the Mission Desk team a confident smile, “It’s more to put my mind at ease, I’m sure they’ll do!”

“In that case, can we ask you to return to the waiting room? We’ll have a team assigned to you shortly.”

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later the mission requests were collated, and two teams had already turned in reports when Team 7 came barrelling in the door.

“We have a cat!” screamed Naruto.

“Call Madam Shijimi,” Sarutobi told Riku.

Seconds later Shijimi ran into the room, nearly tearing the door from its hinges.

“TORA-CHAN!”

“Here,” Naruto said, simply handing the cat to the woman. Tora immediately tried to escape Shijimi’s arms, causing her to him even closer.

“Ohhh! My cute Tora-chan! I was scared to death!”

As Tora continued trying to escape, Naruto chuckled, “Serves him right-ttebayo, that stupid cat!”

“No wonder he ran away…” Sakura mumbled.

“…Now, then!” Sarutobi began speaking as Madam Shijimi made her payment at the desk.

“The next mission for Kakashi’s Team is…hmm? An errand to the neighbouring town… to baby-sit the chief Councillor’s boy… Helping with digging for potatoes, eh…”

“Nooo!” Naruto shouted, cutting the Hokage off, mid-sentence, “No! No, thank you! As for me, I want to do a more exciting mission! Give us something else!”

As Naruto made his bold request, Iruka made a note of the rest of Team 7’s reactions – Sasuke was unreadable, Sakura looked extremely irritated and Kakashi looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

Noting how premature Naruto’s request was, and Kakashi’s lack of a reprimand, Iruka jumped to his feet.

“You fool! You’re still bottom rookie! At the start, everyone moves up the ladder by gaining experience from simple missions!”

“But but! It’s been nothing but blah missions so far!”

As Naruto continued his protest, Kakashi socked him on the back of the head, sending him crashing to the ground. As admonishments went it was crude.

“Knock it off!” Kakashi grumbled.

“Naruto!” Sarutobi intervened and Naruto sat in the ground rubbing at his head, “It’s necessary to explain to you what a mission is.”

“Huh?”

“Listen to me! Requests pour into the village every day. They range from babysitting to assassinations… A wide spectrum of requests are recorded on the request list… They are separated into A, B, C and D ranks in order of difficulty. In the village, everyone below me is divided up by ability in the order of Jōnin, Chūnin and Genin. We at the highest level distribute the requests as missions to ninja who have abilities that suit said mission. And, if the mission is successful, the fee comes in from the client. Nevertheless, you guys have just become Genin… rank D is about the best you can do… Hm?”

Iruka, who had been listening intently to the Hokage looked up to see Naruto sat on the ground, his back to the Hokage.

“Yesterday’s lunch was Tonkotsu Ramen, today’s will be Miso- “

“Listen!” Sarutobi yelled at the genin.

“I-I’m sorry,” Kakashi said apologetically to the Hokage.

“Maaan! You’re always lecturing me, Ji-chan! But I’m not that little prankster that you think I am!”

With a loud humph, Naruto again turned his back on Sarutobi.

Kakashi scratched at the back of his head, looking uncharacteristically sheepish.

Realising that Naruto was managing to give the Jōnin the run around, clearly still managing to be his loud self, Iruka allowed himself a small smile, and a slight chuckle from Sarutobi told him he wasn’t alone in finding amusement in Naruto’s defiance.

“Okay, fine!” the Hokage said suddenly.

“Huh…?!”

“If you insist… I’ll have you do a C-Rank mission… You’ll be bodyguards for someone.”

_Hokage-sama… You can’t possibly mean the drunk man from Nami no Kuni…_

“Really?!” Naruto said, sounding suddenly enthusiastically, “Ah-ha! Who? Who? A daimyo?! Or, a princess?!”

“Don’t get so hasty. I’ll introduce you now!” Sarutobi smirked before shouting, “Could you please come in!”

Tazuna, being the only person left in the waiting room, came to the door seconds later, and appeared even more tipsy than he had earlier.

“What’s this? It’s just a bunch of darned squirts!”

As Tazuna took a long swig of his sake, Iruka noticed how perplexed the genin seemed by the state of their charge.

“Particularly you, the smallest one with the idiot face. Are you really a ninja?”

_Ouch._

“Ah ha ha! Who’s the smallest one with the idiot face he’s talking about…?” Naruto said loudly, prompting Sasuke and Sakura to stand closer to him.

As Naruto realises he was in fact the smallest one with the idiot face, his laughter turned to rage.

“I’ll kill him!” he screamed, causing Kakashi to grab him by the collar.

“What good will it do to kill the old man you’re supposed to be guarding, you moron?!”

Tazuna took another gulp of sake, his face growing even more flushed from the alcohol.

“I’m Tazuna, veteran bridge builder. You’ll be risking life and limb in guarding me to the max until I return to my land and complete my bridge!”

Iruka blinked. That hadn’t been the mission – Tazuna had only requested an escort back to Nami no Kuni, not an escort till the bridge was complete. He smelled a rat, but the Hokage didn’t seem concerned.

Kakashi walked idly over to the mission desk and picked up the scroll and had a quick read. Iruka watched as Kakashi raised an eyebrow, at least Iruka assumed the man was raising an eyebrow, and the Hokage simply nodded at him.

“Thank you Hokage-sama. Please advise if you are happy to depart just now Tazuna-san.”

“Ready to go!” Tazuna confirmed.

The team turned to leave the room, with Sakura scowling at something Naruto had muttered about Tazuna.

“Take Team 7 off the mission roster,” Hiruzen instructed Riku.

“Yes sir, “he responded.

“Hokage-sama?” Iruka inquired.

“Tazuna just requested an extension to the mission, but it’s an addition that would still be covered by what he was prepared to pay for this C-Rank mission. Have you ever been to Nami no Kuni?”

“No sir.”

“It’s a couple of days away on foot at a quick pace. With untested Genin it’ll take even longer and adding on the amount of time it’ll take to supervise the bridge build; the team could potentially be away for a month of so. If it’s longer than that Kakashi will know to end the mission and return home, or to request an increased payment and send word back to the village. Either way, Team 7 won’t be doing any more missions this month.”

“Thank you for clarifying, Hokage-sama.”

* * *

 

With his shift on the mission desk over, Iruka returned home where he made himself an omelette and looked over his lesson plans for the coming week.

Iruka had an odd knot of worry in his stomach. Naruto would be away from the village for a month? Would he be okay? Would he pack enough socks and underwear? Would he have enough mission gear? Would he eat properly? Would he be safe with Kakashi?!”

Naruto had never been outside of the village before. As a ward of the village, and the Kyūbi’s Jinchūriki, it hadn’t been possible for him to venture out of the village. Naruto wasn’t alone in that regard – children attached to clans got the opportunity to travel, but the others rarely did unless their parents were in business that required outside contacts. A lot of shinobi clans resisted integration into the hidden village system, even today with clans such as the Taketori and the Fūma maintaining their own villages and diplomatic ties to individual clans within Konoha. He’d had to excuse Hinata from class on a few occasions as she visited the Taketori with her father and grandfather. Ino had also been excused for trip outside the village with her parents on a few occasions – as the Yamanaka were Konoha’s only florists they often needed to visit flower markets many miles from Konoha.

But to the best of Iruka’s knowledge, Sasuke and Sakura were like Naruto in that they’d never travelled outside the village either.

Iruka screwed his eyes shut as he began to feel even more worried.

No, this wouldn’t do. With a month to go until they were back, Iruka shook his head to try and dislodge the negative thoughts on his mind and returned his attention to his lesson plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos on the previous chapters!


	4. Educating Konoha

It was as if Naruto had never graduated.

 

“Konohamaru!” Iruka bellowed at the youngest Sarutobi in the village.

 

Konohamaru responded with a sultry wink before dispelling his sexy jutsu.

 

“Hehehe!” he chuckled, eliciting a few giggles from the boys in the class.

 

“That is not a jutsu for you to use anywhere Konohamaru, especially not in this classroom!”

 

“Naruto niichan says this is his ultimate jutsu – the best one for strong opponents!” Konohamaru grinned, balling a fist in Iruka’s direction, “and it worked! Your face is covered in blood sensei!”

 

Iruka had been so busy getting angry at his student he had forgotten to check for the side-effect of the sexy jutsu. As he wiped at his face and got his hand covered in blood, all of his students started laughing out loud. Iruka ran to his lectern looking for tissues. Nostrils plugged, he yelled a reprimand at his students and ran to the bathroom to fix his face.

 

Once in the restroom, Iruka splashed water on his face, scrubbing at the areas where the blood had already dried.

 

“Honourable grandson my ass...Honourable little shit more like,” he muttered.

 

Naruto’s class could be a handful, but Konohamaru’s class were proving to be utterly wild: Konohamaru felt it was his duty to be as Naruto-like as possible; Tanba felt threatened by being in the same class as a Sarutobi so he felt the need to flaunt his katon jutsu all the time (so far he’d caused three small fires and had singed Iruka’s ponytail); Watase loved to throw shuriken and pick fights while proclaiming himself to be the strongest kid in the class – on two occasions his desire to fight anyone for no reason had caused full-scale punch-ups in the class; One of the girls, Matsuri, had a love of paper bombs, and her tendency to flick through stashes of them in the middle of class was causing Iruka’s blood pressure to rise by the day. No matter how many time he confiscated them from Matsuri, she’d always find more; The worst in the class besides Konohamaru however was Udon, who just loved to wipe his snot on Iruka at every opportunity.

 

With the sink now full of water, Iruka dunked his whole face in for a moment before glancing up at the mirror and grabbing some paper towels to dry his face.

 

“You can do this Umino Iruka. They’re seven and eight year olds. You’re trained for this.”

 

Slapping his face, he stood up straight and marched back to class, intent on punishing Konohamaru and the rest of the class.

 

He didn’t get the chance to do this however, because as he walked back into the classroom he bumped into Udon, who decided that this was the perfect time to projectile vomit all over the stressed sensei.

 

* * *

 

“They’re a bunch of animals.” Iruka cried into his sake.

 

“You’re teaching kids, of course they’re going to act like animals sometimes,” Asuma quipped before taking a gulp of his beer, “In saying that you actually sent me three humans to teach!”

 

“Are Shikamaru, Chōji and Ino getting on okay?”

 

“More than okay, they’re the best students I’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching. I don’t know what you did with them, but they’re a joy to have in the field.”

 

“How did those tests go with Shikamaru?”

 

Asuma gave Iruka a grin like he was going to drop a bombshell on the Chūnin

 

“He has an IQ of over 200.”

 

Holy shit.

 

“He used to fail tests because he just wouldn’t do them. He once turned in a paper that simply read “Nara” because he couldn’t be bothered writing his whole name, let alone the actual assignment!”

 

“His intellect is only surpassed by his laziness,” Asuma smirked, “he’s every inch his father’s son...I have high hopes for him.”

 

“So you have two big brains on your team?”

 

Asuma nodded, “Ino’s got lots of book smarts but her jutsu is lacking which worries me. She’s been a bit better while Kakashi’s team’s been out of the village...fewer distractions you understand.”

 

Iruka allowed himself a chuckle. For some reason the girls in his old class all seemed to go crazy for Uchiha Sasuke, and Ino was no exception. Iruka had originally thought it was the draw of him being the last of the Uchiha, but nope, apparently his sorely lacking people skills and his duck butt haircut served to make the boy appear ‘cool’.

 

“And Chōji?”

 

“As long as he’s kept fuelled up, he’s great! Now, how’s my nephew getting on?”

 

Iruka bit his lip for a moment, trying to think of some good news he could tell the Jōnin.

 

“Well, uh...he’s a very enthusiastic presence in the classroo-”

 

“-He’s the ringleader, isn’t he?”

 

“….Yes.”

 

“Takes after his dad then,” Asuma said drolly before letting out a belly laugh.

 

“Is your brother a bit of a joker then?”

 

“Hmm...he was when we were kids, but he grew up eventually.”

 

“Must be hard on Konohamaru, with his parents being so busy,” Iruka said before he could stop himself.

 

“I, I mean uh...”

 

“It’s alright Iruka Sensei, I agree, but they’re both great shinobi and my father wants them both in the Anbu.”

 

Asuma grimaced a little before taking a swig of his beer, “It is tough on Konohamaru, that's why I’m glad he’s got you and Ebisu looking out for him...I know you’ve been a good influence on my students, we all know about what happened with Naruto, and Kurenai’s been really impressed by her team, so I’m hoping you can help Konohamaru find his focus.”

 

* * *

 

This was easier said than done however, Konohamaru was only one member of a large class, many of whom were lacking in the very basics of education. Konohamaru could write but many of his classmates couldn’t, and Iruka was having a hard time getting the principal to agree to delay some of the ninjutsu courses while the children concentrated on reading and writing. Luckily for Iruka some students like Moegi were more than happy to try and coach their classmates with writing.

 

But this still wasn’t good enough.

 

The curriculum might be serving the interests of the village but it wasn’t serving the interests of the students whatsoever. Iruka believed the entire academy needed reformed in order to best provide for these children. But getting the other teachers to agree with him was all but impossible. With rare exception they shared Daikoku’s view that their only job was to help churn out Genin that would make decent ninja. Anything else like basic literacy was a luxury.

 

* * *

 

 

“Principal, please, just give me one more month to focus on literacy and numeracy with this class.”

 

“That’s not your job Iruka, teaching them to read and write is the parents’ job. Our first duty is to give them the skills they need to stay alive in the field. Our second duty is to make sure they’re competent in the field. Yes, if they’re able to read and write that’s great for them, but there’s plenty of civilians that can’t read and write so it’s not a necessity. Refocus, Iruka. These kids need to throw shuriken straight more urgently than they need to write poetry.”

 

“I’m thinking about the longer term, Principal, for when they need to write mission reports, or send intel back to the village-”

 

“Iruka, we have more than enough idealists in the teaching staff – try to be more of a realist. Just over half your class will ever become Genin, about two thirds of the Genin will become Chūnin, and out of them, maybe two will become Jōnin, and those will likely be the smart ones who can already read and write.”

 

“With more focus on their soft skills just now while they’re still really young, we can help more of them pass their Genin exams and help even more advance further still-.”

 

“-We have little need for thirty potential Jōnin a year. This village’s bread and butter is catching cats and running errands. The answer is no.”

 

* * *

 

 

Having gotten nowhere during his talk with the principal, and realising that most of the academy staff were on the principal’s side, Iruka was left feeling dejected.

 

Instead he was now sat in Ichiraku with a bowl of Tonkotsu ramen. Teuchi having sensed Iruka was having a bad day had quickly passed him a few cupfuls of the sake he kept under the counter. Ichiraku didn’t have a license, so it was a bottle reserved only for soothing the nerves and moods of a few regular customers at Teuchi’s sole discretion.

 

Iruka was thankful for the little cupfuls, enjoying the warmth of the sake in between mouthfuls of noodles.

 

When he was joined by Ebisu however, he suppressed a grumble, knowing that no more free sake would be forthcoming as long as the tutor was sat next to him.

 

“Rumour has it you pissed off the principal today,” Ebisu smirked.

 

“I think I might of,” Iruka sighed, “I went to see him earlier this evening. A number of Konohamaru’s classmates have very bad literacy so I’d asked for an extension to the reception class schedule, just until some of the students that are struggling had improved a little bit. But he turned down my request.”

 

“Hmm,” Ebisu grumbled, “I can see your point, and I can see his point. Kids that can read are going to go further than those that can’t, but that’s the parents responsibility. They need to teach their children to read or make alternative arrangements, like Sandaime did by getting me to tutor Konohamaru for a full year before he enrolled! It’s not your job to make up for bad parenting.”

 

“Not every family has the resources to pay for tutoring, nor the time or skills to teach their children themselves-”

 

“-Then they shouldn’t be having children,” Ebisu responded as his own ramen arrived.

 

Iruka gritted his teeth, “Sandaime encouraged them to have children – between the last war and the Kyūbi’s attack the population plummeted. Childless couples who were struggling financially were given grants if they had a child. And like I said, many people can’t afford to hire tutors – hiring a tutor is the equivalent of paying for two D-Rank missions a day for a year!”

 

“You’re too soft Iruka,” Ebisu garbled through his first mouthful of ramen, “I don’t have the time to raise a child, so I don’t have a child for that reason...”

 

“Oh I’m sure _that’s_ the reason,” Iruka mumbled as Ebisu continue to talk.

 

“...You can’t be these kids’ wet nurse Iruka. If the kids can’t read and write then admonish the parents like you should and get them to deal with it. If the kids still can’t do it then you have to accept the parents’ wishes and make sure the kids can at least hold a kunai. Seriously, you were spoiled with your last homeroom class – it was overflowing with clan kids – they almost always have private tuition prior to enrolment.”

 

Sometimes Iruka wondered if anyone in this village was on his wavelength these days… 

 

* * *

 

 

After finishing his ramen, Iruka decided to go for a walk as the sun began to set.

 

It had been almost a month since Team 7 had departed for the land of waves, and they were tentatively pencilled in to start taking missions again next week, so Iruka had tried to keep his mind occupied by thinking about the best ways to help his students. It hadn’t helped however, instead it had left him feeling angry and helpless as some of his students had already started to fall behind.

 

Meanwhile, his worries about Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura had continued to linger around in his mind, and with every passing hour, his nerves grew even more frayed.

 

He looked up and Hokage Rock became lit by the amber hues of the sun. He usually focused on Sandaime’s rock image, but this evening he looked to Shodai’s.

 

“Children barely out of the academy going on month-long missions, others being judged too unimportant to be given the opportunity to read? I don’t think that was the village you envisioned, was it Hashirama-sama?”

 

Iruka had a lot of respect for Sandaime, but as he’d grown older and longer in tooth his concerns over certain aspects over how the village was run had only continued to grow. Iruka wondered if the Professor could even see the problems the current set-up was going to create further down the line. And as Sarutobi was something of an intellect himself, Iruka doubted the hokage could put himself in the shoes of a child who was struggling with the basics of reading and writing.

 

Iruka vowed to find an alternative way to tackle his current predicament, and hoped the results would show his superiors that there were merits to giving the children more non-shinobi education.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay with updating this fic...Real Life got in the way. This is just a short chapter but the next one will be longer!


End file.
